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Farewell 2010 – Welcome 2011

With delight I bid farewell to 2010. Twenty doctor appointments in one year, not counting eyes & teeth, explains why I felt like I was always at the doctor’s office. That’s just for me; I took my kids in a few times, too.

8 family physician appointments for me (+4 for other family members)

9 rheumatologist appointments for me (+2 for my daughter)

2 orthopedist appointments (+1 for my daughter)

1 podiatrist appointment

1 optometrist appointment (+3 for other family members)

2 dentist appointments (+15 for other family members)

19 physical therapy sessions* (+12 for my daughter)

8 blood draws (+4 for my daughter)

2 x-ray sessions (+4 for other family members)

2 MRI sessions

16 trips to the pharmacy (+5 for other family members)

Total out-of-pocket this year was approximately $5,500 (plus insurance premia). I’m hoping that next year is less expensive. We have kids heading off for college in a few years, and I’d like to be able to help them with their tuition.

Looking Ahead

My daughter has appointments with both PT and OT this week. I fully intend to glean everything I can in those two hours and we’ll both do the stretches and exercises. With any luck, that will banish some of those itis diagnoses that keep getting added to my problem list. She also has a follow-up with the pediatric rheumatologist and I’m really hoping that if this is something to be treated by the rheumy, she gets close enough to diagnosing what’s wrong that effective treatment begins promptly. The mobic is not helping nearly enough. My daughter has no hope that she’ll ever feel better, and that’s harder for me to see than her pain. If it’s not something for a rheumy, then I hope this doctor figures out where we need to go. Soon. Oops, this was supposed to be an optimistic paragraph, looking forward to good things in the coming year.

After we returned from vacation last summer, I felt awful and spent a lot of time sitting around doing nothing. I gained 25 pounds in two months and need to get rid of them. Once those pounds are gone, I’d like to lose the twenty that have crept up on me the past four years. The ones I gained prior to that are probably here to stay, but these newcomers are highly unwelcome. I’m 5’6″ and weighed 107 when I got married. I don’t have any hopes of ever seeing that weight again, but I don’t think I’m even in the ideal range anymore.

My two oldest children have plane tickets and will be headed to Guatemala next month. It’s an exciting opportunity for them, and I’m only a little nervous about letting them go. I’ll probably write more about it one of these days – if we ever finish getting everything that they need to pack. It will be a busy month of preparation with shopping, sewing, attending meetings with the group that’s going…

My rheumy says that she’d like to see me every 3 months. A few years ago I’d have been appalled at the need to see a doctor four times a year. Every-other-year was plenty. Now I’m really looking forward to follow-ups only every three months. If I’m feeling well enough that she thinks that’s a reality, it really will be a good year.

Thank you for reading.

Wishing you and your family a wonderful 2011!

____________My insurance says a max of 15 PT in a year, so I’m not sure how those extra four slipped through.